Beyond the Dark Room

In a recent series of photographs titled HVACuus, David K. Ross ­captured steam clouds emanating from institutions which conserve artworks. In photographing these vaporous emissions that are produced when ­ambient cold air comes into contact with warmer air released by ­heating and ventilation systems,¹ 1 - Hence the acronym HVAC for Heating Ventilation & Air Conditioning.the artist evidently inscribes his work within a long lineage of visual works that draw on the recurrent iconographic motif of the cloud. In a photograph taken around the Musée d’art ­contemporain de Montréal one sees a segment of architecture in the picture’s right side and a small patch of blue sky above it. The rest of the picture plane is occupied by a cloudy substance. In the series another work—dedicated to the emanations of the Clark Institute in Williamstown, Massachusetts—shows clouds almost completely suffusing the building and the trees, which one can barely make out. Despite the sense of ­invasion that this concentration of clouds conveys, Ross does not attempt to send a ­message on climate change or air pollution for that matter.